The alert status for one of the archipelago’s most active volcanoes was raised to the highest level on Sunday after the mountain repeatedly sent hot clouds of gas down its slope following a series of eruptions in recent days.

My report last week about 92-year ex-army veteran Vic Williams prompted a lot of response from readers. To remind you, Vic made a video for David Cameron - you'll find it here bit.ly/1d1mQ3t. In it he raises the issue of the pensions injustice that leaves almost half of our British pensioners who live abroad facing a frozen state pension while the rest get annual increases as if they still remained in this country.

There has been some agonising in London about why six cyclists were killed on the roads in the space of less than two weeks. To this discussion, Lord James of Blackheath has made his distinctive contribution. His experience is that cyclists are “longing” to be run over. He told the House of Lords, during a debate on litter: “I have seen cyclists put their cycles up against the central reservation... and defy you to run them down while they photograph you doing it. This is what they are longing for.”

“All governments gather information … and all governments know that every other government gathers information,” Tony Abbott declared in parliament on Monday, effectively confirming reports that Australia had tried to eavesdrop on mobile phone conversations between the Indonesian President, Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono, and close confidants including his wife.

One of the most depressing cities in the world to visit is Brasilia.It was all built at once in a short burst in the 1960s, and as a result it is all growing old at the same time. There is absolutely no relief.